How to choose between WAV and MP3 downloads for an AI DJ track

Every Club Ready Music render produces a 320 kbps MP3 for each take, tagged with cover art, BPM, key and Serato cue points. Tick WAV 24/48 under 07 · Master & export (on by default) and you also get a 24-bit, 48 kHz WAV of the same mastered audio. Download either from the result panel, or press DJ pack for a zip that holds both files plus the cover, a cue sheet and rekordbox.xml. Choose WAV for club play and archiving, MP3 for size, sharing and quick auditioning.

Steps

1. Decide before you render

The WAV is produced during mastering, so the choice has to be made before you press Generate. Under 07 · Master & export, the line MP3 320 + cue points is always ticked and cannot be turned off; WAV 24/48 is a toggle, on by default. Leave it on unless you are certain you only need the MP3.

2. Render the track

Press Generate. Both takes are processed through the same chain: hard start, loudness normalisation, mono bass, optional bass fade. The MP3 and the WAV come from one processed signal, so they sound identical apart from the MP3 encoding.

3. Pick the take

In the result panel choose Take 1 or Take 2. The download buttons apply to the selected take, so pick the one you want before you click. See choose between two takes.

4. Download the single file you need

Press MP3 for the 320 kbps file or WAV for the 24-bit file. Both are named from the track title and artist, with "(Extended Mix)" added if that box is ticked. The MP3 carries the cover image, the key in musical, Camelot and Open Key notation, the BPM, a comment with the bar counts, and Serato cue points and beat grid. The WAV carries the same text tags.

5. Or download the DJ pack

Press DJ pack to get one zip for the selected take: the tagged MP3, the WAV when one was made, the cover JPEG, cue points.txt listing every cue with its time, rekordbox.xml describing the track, and a README. This is the easiest way to move a track to another computer with everything attached.

6. Share the MP3 preview if you like

The share page at /t/{slug} plays a free 30-second preview from the first drop and offers the MP3 for download. The WAV is only available to you from the studio and the crate.

Tips

• Play WAV in the club. On a big system the 320 kbps MP3 is close, but the WAV has no encoding artefacts in the top end and no decoder differences between players.
• Audition on MP3. For listening back on a phone or sending to a friend, the MP3 at a seventh of the size is the better file.
• Storage adds up. Ten 5:00 tracks with both takes as WAV is about 1.7 GB. If disk space matters, keep the WAV only for the take you will play.
• The cue points are in both. The MP3 holds Serato cue markers in its tag, and the cue points.txt in the DJ pack lists the same times for software that does not read them; see use the cue points.
• Cover art is embedded in the MP3. The cover is finished after the audio, so the final tag pass runs once both are ready. If you download seconds after the take appears, wait for the cover to land and download again for the tagged version.

Common problems

There is no WAV button, or it is greyed out. The track was rendered with WAV 24/48 unticked. The WAV cannot be made after the fact; re-render with the toggle on, which costs one credit.

The MP3 has no cover art. You downloaded before the cover finished. The result panel shows the cover once it is ready; download again and the tags will include it.

My player shows the WAV without a key or BPM. Some players do not read text tags from WAV files. Use the MP3 for metadata, or read the key and BPM from cue points.txt and the file name.

The two formats sound different in level. They should not; both come from the same mastered audio. If one seems louder, your player is applying its own gain or replay-gain to one format. Compare in the same player with gain off.